28.1.10

"[Horus] was seen as a great falcon with outstretched wings whose right eye was the sun and the left one was the moon. In this form, he was sometimes given the title Kemwer, meaning (the) great black (one)."

"I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly."

-John 10:10, King James Bible

In my previous post, I explored the pattern of the Dark Savior seen in the original Hebrew warrior version of Jesus -the Lion of Judah- and the 2008 anointing of the astrological Leo, Barack H. Obama, as the political pop star messiah of the new Age of Globalism. These connections led me to a) evidence of the prevalence of the dark savior image in PoP, b) the literal representation of the "dark" savior through the dark-skinned man, and c) some confusion about the good/bad switching that seems to permeate the Hero Myth through characters like Fight Club's Tyler Durden, Avatar's Jake Sully and, of course, Batman. In this new age, the image of the dark knight, the anti-hero, seems fitting to our modern mode of storytelling, but in actuality, the true face of the mythical hero has always been dark. Or better yet, one side has...

"On the eve of the state opening of the second session of [King] James's first Parliament, on 5 November 1605, a soldier named Guy Fawkes was discovered in the cellars of the parliament buildings guarding a pile of wood, not far from 36 barrels of gunpowder with which he intended to blow up Parliament House the following day and cause the destruction, as James put it, "'not only... of my person... but of the whole body of the State in general'"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_I_of_England#Gunpowder_plot

With the advent of Roman Christianity and the forced proliferation of organized uniformed religion, the tragic hero seen in the stories of antiquity was replaced by the sanctified righteousness of the White Knight, which it seems, never quite fit (Check out Black Star Resurrection: Lion is Lamb for more on the dark hero). The word "hero" comes from the actual name of Horus -Haru- but the term "Hero" was coined by ancient Greek myth-makers to describe their demigods (half-god, half-man). Legends like Achilles and Perseus were flawed, tortured, imperfect and often immoral. The purpose of having such blemished characters in the starring role was to make the character accessible to the audience. The imperfect reader/viewer/listener could put themselves into the character; the Hero became their avatar.

avatar |ˈavəˌtär|noun, chiefly Hinduism
a manifestation of a deity or released soul in bodily form on earth; an incarnate divine teacher.
• an incarnation, embodiment, or manifestation of a person or idea :

he set himself up as a new avatar of Arab radicalism.

[actual example from the definition]
• Computing: a movable icon representing a person in cyberspace or virtual reality graphics.

"Take the blue pill... wake up in your bed... beLieve whatever you want to believe"

"Why oh why didn't I take the blue pill?"-Cipher

This tactic -using the simplified, imperfect character icon as a target audience's generalized reflection- was seen used in a more paradoxical [schizo] fashion in the 2008 presidential campaign. While headlines touted Obama as the popstar-messiah, he was subtly being sold as the "everyman"; champion of the middle class, grassroots community organizer, the Robin Hood of modern politics. Ironically, his opponents on the Conservative [red] side did most of the selling through their repeated attempts to label Obama as a socialist (while simultaneously calling him"elitist"). The "everyman" avatar theme was again connected to the dark hero archetype through Obama's reverse-anointment by his protractors as the ultimate anti-hero, The Anti-Christ.

red state, blue state, red face, blue face, one face, two face...

not bad meaning bad but bad meaning good

This is where Obama's place in the pattern gets tricky.

Despite what Alex Jones and others may preach about Obama being simply more of the same, something about this change is real. When the leading presidential candidate of a reportedly Christian nation is being called the Antichrist by major media, something is different. As I said in the last post, the significant change is in imagery, the label, the icon, more than the man himself. It's not quite the pill we were sold during that brilliantly-marketed campaign, but the blatant racism being unearthed is telling. The newly-formed anti-government Tea Party movement is really just anti-Obama, and since Obama is meant to be our avatar, The Joke's on us. On a personal note, I find it hilarious how many people have so passionately jumped on the anti-Obama activism bandwagon with no clue of what they actually believe, simply acting as conduits, medium, messengers for other talking heads. Well, it would be hilarious, if it weren't so tragic.

"I just realized the vibe that struck about the Sirius stuff during the election- it was like these people were in on some joke that we were not. Like they knew what was going on and were yukking it up with the dog being a major issue, and all of the business about Obama being the man for 'serious times.'"

Sirius Black, played by Gary Oldman who stars with Denzel Washington in Book of Eli, and with Christian Bale in The Dark Knight [ha]

Mr Serious in black, The Joker in white

Sirius and Sun?

black man in white-face

The United States of America has elected its first black president.
So what?

Well, in case anyone's still in the dark on this, the so-called black American male has been at the bottom of the sociocultural hierarchy since this country was founded, around 232 B.O. [before obama]. The significance of a black president standing at the top of that hierarchy -in a time of [cosmic] crisis- is in the precedence, not the president (to quote Van Jones). Let's not lie to ourselves; the history of the image of the black man in popular media is, well, bad. The propagation of that image -as opposed to more positive images of black men- is the result of a systematic and voluntary move by string-pullers in media to paint a very specific picture. The modern ascension of the black superhero archetype and the new face of the black man in PoP -mainly due to roles played by Will Smith and Denzel Washington- has been more than obvious. The change is in the imagery, in the medium more than [or maybe as much as] the message.

We like to think of the president of the US as the country's "boss", the decision-maker for major policy, the commander-in-chief... but none of these are really accurate. The president serves three main functions; giving good speeches (i.e. gaining support for policy), representing the government to the populace and representing the country to the world. The US is now represented by a black man. Much to the dismay of many so-called American "loyalists", Obama is now an icon that stands for what America means. Just like the eagle.

opening scene from J.Cameron's Avatar

a curiously 'masked' shot found in the director's cut

MichaEL the VickTor, had a great fall, from Falcon to Eagle, dogs and all

"For my own part I wish the Bald Eagle had not been chosen the Representative of our Country. He is a Bird of bad moral character. He does not get his Living honestly. You may have seen him perched on some dead Tree near the River, where, too lazy to fish for himself, he watches the Labour of the Fishing Hawk; and when that diligent Bird has at length taken a Fish, and is bearing it to his Nest for the Support of his Mate and young Ones, the Bald Eagle pursues him and takes it from him. With all this Injustice, he is never in good Case but like those among Men who live by Sharping & Robbing he is generally poor and often very lousy"

-Benjamin Franklin, c. 1784

Horus eagle turned blue

dark eagle bull'seye

rise of the fallen bird

the sun's in my [left] eye

Three days before Hillary Clinton conceded her campaign and formally joined Barack Obama's run for the presidency, Columbia Pictures released Will Smith's new anti-hero summer blockbuster, Hancock. Anyone even remotely paying attention noticed the over-played eagle/falcon/hawk symbolism, from the giant bird he drew on his prison cell wall, to the pet hawk he curiously shows up with in the film's final scene. There has been plenty of discussion on the meaning behind this symbolism in the blogosphere - most notably Christopher Knowles' amazing work at The Secret Sun, where he makes the case that Hancock is literally Horus - but the simplest connection may have been lost on most. Will Smith, as the eagle Heru, represents the United States of America. Just like Obama.

"superstar Will Smith has revealed he has his eye on the greatest role of his life"

Both Obama and Will Smith have become PoP Icon. I-con. Eye Con... what we see is the con. What we see is the mask. But is that mask, that idea, any less real? Either way, it's definitely easier for us to put ourselves behind the mask if the [message of the] mask is in plain black-n-white. Well, white mostly.

chaos is fair, chaos is balanced, chaos is order

[imitations of] men for serious times

the clown as the white lie

Setting truth aside, the Mask, as our surrogate self, our avatar, is an Idea. Behind that mask we are invincible and free, and through it we can live forever. Or so they say. In the 2009 film Surrogates, people feel freed by being able live through [perfected] robotic masks. A new weapon that somehow kills people through their eyes reveals that someone can die with their surrogate body, and negates the whole point of using surrogates. As in The Matrix and Avatar, living vicariously through the mask in the dream realm frees the mind and allows one to redefine life, as well as death. How has living through our own online avatars redefined life for us, I wonder... seeing ourselves through the collective eye[i], finding/losing ourselves in a lie...

"I would love to live in a simplistic cartoon world where all the 'baddies' are part of the 'evil Illuminati' and the rest are good but pathetic victims. That would make things very easy. Nice and black and white."

This pattern feels very different from the last chapter. There's still that feeling of up-is-down that was so prevalent in the Wonderland Series, but this path seems more schizophrenic. Less defined but more solid. Distinctively separated, but still very connected... the form and flow of these connections seems to reflect the idea of the avatar: one may see oneself in the reflection, but the reflection is not what it is. I wish things would make sense for a change.

still shot from Beyonce's Video Phone video with Lady GaGa; see the masks?

"Your own father said that artists use lies to tell the truth. Yes, I created a lie. But because you believed it, you found something true about yourself."

-V from V For Vendetta

I am not what I am... I Am US

sync wink: blue eye, red heart

Will Smith showed up in the Beyonce robot pattern because of his roles in Men In Black and I, Robot. Both films cast [Agent] Smith as the black lion opposite white lambs, and both films touched on the "I"-eye-Ego connection using the robot allegory; the Men in Black [agents] replaced truth with lie by erasing memories using the red-eyed, hand-held HAL robots, and in I, Robot, Will Smith battles [then sides with] a robot who believes the memories implanted in his programming are his own dreams. That robot -called Sonny [sun/son/ra]- infers that he and Will are like-minded, was given his dreams by his missing [surrogate] father, and saves the day by being able to escape the hive mind and join the mob... er, I mean, the revolution. The collective robot consciousness in I, Robot is controlled by a blue goddess, and denoted by the red-eye/red light inside the chest symbolizing the Oz Tin Man's heart. In Men In Black 2, Will Smith shared spotlight with Eagle Eye's [Agent] Zoe, Rosario Dawson, the actress he gave his heart to in Seven Pounds. [whew]

eye is the door of light

i am coming through

This theme of black-and-white came onto my radar with the interesting pattern of the black-and-white suit. The [fake] IRS agent uniform from the Seven Pounds poster is the agent uniform from MIB and The Matrix, as well as the hitman uniform from Pulp Fiction, and the only suit Mr. Manhattan would ever care to wear. The award for most career black-and-white suit appearances goes to Keanu Reeves, for the wardrobe syncs from films like Constantine, Devil's Advocate, The Day The Earth Stood Still and Johnny Mnemonic. Dark Savior Duality for days...

Neo as the Anti-Christ

The over-emphasized duality seen in these connections, symbols and stories seems to ultimately be the lie, but within that lie is truth. When Obama says "we are the change we have been waiting for", he's exploiting our spiritual need to connect as one [me/we] and the energy of transition we feel coming, all for political gain. There may not be an altruistic or progressive bone in his body; it might all be a well-crafted mask. For the purposes of the pattern, it seems, validity of that truth is, somehow, both irrelevant to the meaning beneath, and the key to seeing beyond it. After all this, I still don't really know what I'm saying here. All I know is, this mask being used as truth is a tough but necessary nut to crack, and as they say, if you wanna make an omelette, you gotta break the shell.

But, don't hold me to that.

Are you human? My body is.

.:UPDATE:.

02.12.2010 2:10AM

Exploring this particular pattern has been strangely difficult, as simple as it feels. The experience of writing this piece felt very much like the unlikely discomfort that kept me from finishing Sacred Sex, Popped Stars and Holy Babble a few months back. While Sacred Sex was a cloudy concept that solidified as I documented it, the Lion/Lamb pattern was an immediately solid vision that got cloudier as the concept went from mind to monitor. It took some honest critique from some close friends for me to understand why...

Dear Patient Reader;

Once you finished reading this piece, did you feel a sort of emptiness? You're not alone.

black hole eclipse - light revealing the shape of darkness

This research began as a case study on the anti-hero represented by Black Stars like Will Smith, Denzel Washington and Barack Obama, but soon transformed into a commentary on the nature of fiction as an envelope for truth. The fiction is The Mask, The Light, The Surrogate/Avatar, The Ego "I", while the hidden truth is The Dark, The Spirit, The "I Am". When Avatar's Jake Sully left his white human body, he showed us all his darker self, his spirit, able to take on another mask and still be true; symbolized aptly enough by the film's closing [and opening] scene of a single opened eye. Once the movie ends, once the mask of fiction is lifted, what we are left with feels something like emptiness. The Light, the lie that reveals truth, is a very pleasant distraction from The Darkness, where there is no truth and there is no lie. Here is the Abyss, where the spirit beyond Ego seems to transcend definition, and we are left with nothing to hold on to, much like the feeling my friends and I got after reading this post.

Problem is, that "Abyss" concept is also misleading. As James Cameron's other "blue" movie reveals, down in the deepest dark, what seems like emptiness is nowhere near. The Abyss is us; it is the oneness that is our collective spirit. Once the mask is lifted, all that's left is us. We are all so used to having heroes -avatars- to step into, masks with which to define ourselves, that once we are faced with the endless void that lies beneath, we feel lost. This, I believe, is why synchronicity research can feel like madness. The seemingly random patterns give us a glimpse of an all-connected consciousness where the absence of "light" keeps us from being able to tell reality from dream, truth from lie, good from evil... all these dualities dissolve into the one. Like The Matrix's Neo (N-E-O, O-N-E), submitting to the abyss, giving up the dualistic fight, means returning to the source, reconciling our individuality with the realization that everything is everything. The hero, the god, the one, with a thousand faces, that I Am.

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